Mean Girls: Facing Your Beauty Turned Beast by Hayley DiMarco

From the Publisher

Why is it so tough to be a girl? Whether it's at school, in the mall, or even online, girls are mean to each other. Most girls will admit that they have been a victim of a mean girl. In fact, many will say that all girls are basically mean. Whether they're teasing a girl because of how she looks, making up rumors to torment others, or launching an online campaign to destroy their target, girls can be just plain ruthless.
This one-of-a-kind book has helped end the cycle of meanness for tens of thousands of girls. Mean Girls is a call to spiritual strength. A call to stand firm. It calls girls to face the beasts in their lives head on. In short, it's the answer girls need for the problem they never thought could go away. This completely revised edition of Mean Girls will reach junior highers and high schoolers where they are with the help and advice they crave. It has been redesigned inside and out to match the award-winning look of DiMarco's other popular books.

Jan Chapman - VOYA

Echoing the recent movie by the same name, this book is touted as a Christian self-help guide for young girls who are victimized by female bullies. Books that are marketed to Christian teens have gotten quite savvy about using teen language, bright covers, and creative layout to broaden their appeal. To that end, the author uses a confidential "big sister" voice, replete with teen idioms, that comes straight from the pages of teen magazines. The layout of the book is eye-catching, with a style reminiscent of a school notebook, complete with text highlighting. But the content of the book veers between practical suggestions on helping teens cope with bullying and an overly repetitive, heavy-handed proselytizing that ends up dominating the text. Even worse, the book is riddled with the worst gender stereotyping. Girls are told that they are vengeful by nature and gossipy and that boys are not "emotional." Yet this book is not a total loss. Perhaps the most eloquent moment in the book is the author's painful account of her own experiences at the hands of "mean girls." Although there are some useful and clever strategies here for teen girls trying to cope with bullies, the main thrust of this book is devoted to the promotion of conservative Christian beliefs. With stricter editing and less evangelizing, this book would have wider appeal, but as it presents the viewpoint of only one particular Christian ideology, it would have little interest or usefulness to Christian teens outside this narrow focus. With that in mind, this book is not a recommended purchase for some public libraries. VOYA CODES: 2Q 2P M J (Better editing or work by the author might have warranted a 3Q; For the YA with aspecial interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2004, Baker Books, 204p.; Illus., Trade pb. Ages 11 to 15.

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Table of Contents